Bank at School program gets Brock students excited about saving

ELLIS LUCIA / THE TIMES-PICAYUNEPre-kindergarten student Justin Tyler, 4, peers through fifth grade teller Martina Faciane's window to make a deposit as Brock Elementary School students get a lesson on fiscal responsibility during the school's monthly 'banking day.' The 10 year-old bank teller greeted her pre-kindergarten customer with the utmost professionalism.

"Jeremiah McGee," the pint-size client replied, sticking his entire head through the cardboard window sitting atop a cafeteria table, which on Tuesday served as the Brock Beavers Branch Bank.

"OK," Martina said, pulling the necessary deposit form. "Do you have any money?"

Resurrected last month after a four-year lapse due to Hurricane Katrina, Brock's Bank at School program, where students get lessons in fiscal responsibility by making monthly deposits into savings accounts managed through Whitney Bank, has returned.

The program, which is also being offered at Alton Elementary School, is one of several initiatives spearheaded by Shirrelle Gordon-Jefferson, who since August has served as the community liaison to both schools.

"What we're really doing is just trying to build relationships with the community and with our parents," she said.

To that end, the schools have partnered with local businesses including Dubuisson's Art Corner in Olde Towne, and last month enlisted Police Chief Freddy Drennan, state Sen. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, and other local leaders to read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to Brock and Alton students as part of a national campaign.

"It's important for children to see the connection to the community and the school, to see that the things they're learning are preparing them to be a part of the community," she said.

ELLIS LUCIA/THE TIMES-PICAYUNEGordon-Jefferson also hopes to put parents of Brock and Alton, both title I schools with significant low-income populations, in touch with social services that will help to meet their financial, job, and housing needs so they can be more involved at home and in the schools. She plans to offer parenting classes through Slidell Memorial Hospital next spring, and is working on providing GED and resume writing classes.

"We want the school to be the community center," Gordon-Jefferson said.

For one day each month, Brock and Alton serve as banks for nearly 130 students. At Brock on Tuesday, 5th grade tellers sat behind the makeshift counter, ready to serve their classmates under the supervision of real-life tellers from Whitney Bank.

One by one, students carrying crumpled dollar bills and checks in sealed envelopes approached to make their deposits, then left with deposit slips, stickers and lollipops.

"Thank you Dalton, have a good day," teller Evie Prestenback, 10, told 6-year-old Dalton Pierre, who says he intends to spend his savings on toys.

ELLIS LUCIA/THE TIMES-PICAYUNEFifth-grade tellers (L-R) Evie Prestenback, 10, and Martina Faciane, 10, service the accounts of students wishing to make deposits as Brock Elementary School students get a lesson on fiscal responsibility during the school's monthly 'banking day.' Amani Adams, also 6, says she plans to use her savings to buy new Hannah Montana clothes and that she likes the banking program, "because I like the money."

Lynn Jarvis, a Brock parent and substitute teacher, says the Bank at School program has made her four children excited about saving. They now perform chores in exchange for money to deposit into their accounts.

"My kids will get up in the morning and tell me, 'Mom, we gotta go to the bank today'," she said.